Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Who is Jesus?

Was He a good man?

Was He a great philosopher?

Was He a soft-hearted do-gooder?

Was He a religious guru?

Or was He more of an idea, a classic representation love and self-sacrifice?

And does it really matter who you think Jesus is or was?

I mean, as long as you “believe in Jesus,” does it matter how you specifically define the words “believe” or “Jesus”?

Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and even most East Texans all “believe in Jesus,” shouldn’t we just be happy about that?

What about the core message of Christianity, the gospel?

Does a person really need to believe the finer points of Christology[1]in order to understand that Jesus died for sinners?

What if you or your family member or your friend don’t believe something central about Jesus?

Can the Jesus you believe in, whoever He might be, actually save you on the last day?

Can that Jesus forgive sins, make demands, transform your life, and grant you an eternal reward for faithfulness?

Today, we’re continuing our study through the Apostles’ Creed.

Since the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have been confessing their belief in short summaries.

Some of these confessions or statements of faith are right there in the New Testament (1 Cor.

15:4-5; 2 Tim.

2:11-13), and many others have been produced over the centuries.

The word “creed” comes from the Latin word “crēdō,” which means “I believe.”

So, a creed is just a brief summary of what someone believes.

Christianity certainly is a way of life – Christians are those who love, worship, obey, and follow Jesus – but the Christian way of life is based on the Christian worldview or Christian way of thinking– Christians are those who believe certain things about who Jesus is and what He did and does.

Thinking and living, believing and acting, these always go together; you can’t have one without the other.

Our beliefs are visible in how we act, and our way of thinking shows up in our way of living.

Therefore, we must consider carefully what we truly believe, and this is no more important than when we are focusing our attention on what we truly believe about Jesus Christ.

The Creed says, “We/I believe in Jesus Christ, His [God’s] only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”

My aim today is to explain this affirmation by arguing that Jesus of Nazareth was and is truly God and truly man, and this Jesus is the only Savior for sinners.

Lord willing, we will not only come to a better understanding of who Jesus is but also to a richer and stronger trust in the one and only Savior.

Let’s begin by reading a famous passage of Scripture, usually heard at Christmas time.

Listen for the emphasis on Jesus as historical and earthy as well as heavenly and divine.

Scripture Reading

Luke 2:1–14 (ESV)

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Main Idea:

Jesus of Nazareth was and is truly God and truly man, and this Jesus is the only Savior for sinners.

Sermon

1. Jesus is Truly God

Directly speaking, with this first point, I am arguing that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the God of the universe.

Jesus is not merely a god[2]or like God;[3]He is the unique Son of God and God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity.

I’m simply going to summarize some of the Bible’s teaching here, and if this all sounds strange or overly complicated, then it might be because some of us haven’t really given Christian doctrine the attention it deserves.

If this doctrine-rich sermon today tastes too heavy for your mental and spiritual palate, then the solution isn’t for you to avoid doctrine in the future; the solution is for you to chew on meaty Christian doctrine a bit more often, so that you will be better able to digest it.

You can jump into a Life Group on Sunday mornings, you can join a study of systematic theology with a handful of retired men on Friday mornings, you can regularly meet together with a fellow church member to discuss Christian doctrine, you can participate in the Wednesday night Bible studies in the church fellowship hall, and you can always ask me for book recommendations… I may even have something on hand to give you for free.

Just tell me what you’re looking for.

The Apostles’ Creed says it like this, “We/I believe in Jesus Christ, His [God’s] only Son, our Lord…” This short phrase is dense with meaning, but let’s take it one bite at a time.

“We believe in Jesus…” that is, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary (but we will get to that in a bit).

“We believe” that Jesus is “His [God’s] only Son…” that is, God’s Son in a unique way, a way in which nothing and no one else is.

The Bible teaches us that humans are all created in the “image” of God (Gen.

1:26-27), and there is a sense in which we might say that all people are children of God since God grants common grace to everyone.

Like a benevolent father, God makes the sun to rise, the rains to fall, and the seasons to change for everyone, both the righteous and the wicked (Ec.

1:4-7, 9:2).

But the Bible only uses the phrase “children of God” to refer to those who are under God’s covenantal grace and blessings in Jesus Christ (Jn.

1:12; Rom.

8:16; Phil.

2:15; contrast “children of the flesh” in Rom.

9:8 and “children of wrath” in Eph.

2:3).

These are sinners who have been adopted into God’s family; they’ve become His beloved children who share in the full blessings and favor of their heavenly Father.

And yet, Jesus is not the son of God by way of creation(like all image-bearers); He was “with” the Father before creation existed (Jn.

1:1-3, 14).

And Jesus is not the son of God by way of adoption (like all Christians); His “equality with God” is a reality of His very nature (Phil.

2:6; Col. 1:15-20).

Jesus is the Son of God in a unique sense; there is nothing and no one else like Him.

Before He was Jesus of Nazareth, He was already the Son of God and God the Son.

This is why Jesus could pray in John 17, “And now, Father, glorify me… with the glory I had with you before the world existed” (Jn.

17:5).

This is why God the Father and God the Son are described as having “loved” one another “before the foundation of the world” (Jn.

17:24).

And this is why the Gospel of John says that “the Word” was both “with God” and “was God” in “the beginning” (Jn.

1:1); and that the divine “Word,” which is simultaneously distinguished from God and designated as God “became flesh” in the man Jesus of Nazareth (Jn.

1:14).

Friends, Jesus was and is truly God, and that’s why all of heaven erupted in praise when He was born.

As Luke recorded for us, Jesus was indeed a “a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (v12).

But even then, He was the “Savior,” the “Christ,” the “Lord,” and the central focus of “good news of great joy… for all the people” who would finally bring “peace” on earth (v10-12, 14).

2. God the Son Became a Man

From the very beginning, Christians have worshiped Jesus as God, taught one another that Jesus is divine, and sung songs of praise to and about Jesus.

And, so too, Christians have affirmed that Jesus was a real, actual, true human man.

How both of these affirmations are true at the same time is something of a mystery, but that Jesus was and is both truly God and truly man is crystal clear in the Bible.

In our main passage for today, we read several details which affirm (as the Creed says) that Jesus was “born of the virgin Mary.”

Joseph and Mary were “betrothed” or engaged, and Mary was already “with child” (v5).

And in chapter 1 of Luke’s Gospel, he tells us how Jesus was conceived.

An angelic messenger told Mary that she would “bear a son” who would be the “Son” of God and who would “reign” over an eternal “kingdom” (Lk.

1:31-33).

And this miraculous “son” would be born after “the Holy Spirit” created a supernatural pregnancy, even while keeping Mary’s virginity intact (Lk.

1:34-35).

This is why the Apostles’ Creed affirms both that Jesus “was conceived by the Holy Spirit” and that He was “born of the virgin Mary.”

The language here is careful to affirm the uniqueness of Jesus’s conception, and also the reality of an actual human birth.

Jesus didn’t just appearto be human; God the Son didn’t merely take the shape of a man.

No, in Jesus of Nazareth, God became man!

This is one of the great mysteries of Christianity, since it is impossible for us to fully grasp the mechanics of how this can be.

How can the divine creator and sustainer of the universe enter into creation Himself and become one of us?

How can the infinite God put on finitude?

How can the timeless and spaceless One become confined within time and space?

And yet, this mystery is central to the Christian religion.

Unlike deism, or Islam, or modern Judaism, Christians believe that the transcendent God (who is other and outsideof creation) became immanent (near and among creation) in the person of Jesus Christ.

The author of Hebrews teaches us these simultaneous truths.

Turn with me to Hebrews 1.

The Scripture says, “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.